As a criminal defense attorney who had objectively reviewed the state of evidence against Jesse James Hollywood, Michael Mehas knew he had no legal obligation to reveal the information he possessed to anyone, especially the defense in the Hollywood case. It was the moral obligation that split his insides. When putting the story together, Michael had formed certain opinions about Hollywood and his potential defense against the death penalty. But Michael had found himself unable to share those opinions with anyone without violating certain personal confidences, one of them being with Ron Zonen.
On the one hand, the Santa Barbara County Senior Deputy District Attorney had been as thoughtful and cooperative as anyone in aiding Michael’s research. Yet, the fact that Mr. Zonen was attempting to prosecute Hollywood to death affected things dramatically. If Michael chose to express his opinions to Mr. Blatt, the information he supplied might actually be used to help save Jesse’s life. But it could also be used as evidence to help prosecute the Senior Deputy DA for prosecutorial misconduct.
If the author remained silent, however, and Hollywood was convicted and sentenced to death, and it turned out that Michael might have been able to help avoid that fatal end result, he never would have been able to live with himself. That’s why he agreed to answer James Blatt’s questions in the first place. And that’s why he told the defense attorney about the statements made by Hollywood’s co-defendant and admitted shooter, Ryan Hoyt…
